THE BASICS:
 
- Location: BU Track and Tennis Center (Boston, Mass.); Gantcher Center (Medford, Mass.)
 
- The Lead: On Sunday, the No. 4 ranked MIT men's track and field team competed at the John Thomas Terrier Classic at Boston University and the Branwen Smith-King Invitational at Tufts University. The team finished third overall at Tufts with a total of 94.5 points and ended the weekend with five top-20 nationally-ranked performances.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED AT BU:
 
- The MIT distance runners took center stage at BU on Sunday and delivered some of the fastest performances in program history. Junior Matthew Kearney (Austin, Texas) led four runners in the 3,000 meters, finishing 27th overall in a time of 8:12.55. The time is the second fastest in MIT history and ranks him sixth in the nation. Junior Vedang Lad (Plainsboro, N.J.) crossed in 52nd place at 8:26.95, along with junior Lowell Hensgen (Raleigh, N.C.) in 71st (8:36.33) and junior Cameron Kleiman (Austin, Texas) in 72nd (8:37.56).
 
- In the 5,000 meters, junior Andrew Mah (Newton, Mass.) ran a time of 14:25.55 to finish 17th overall. That time ranks third in MIT history and is currently ninth nationally. Graduate student Reid Kovacs (Palo Alto, Calif.) finished 40th in the event, posting a time of 14:53.46.
 
- In the mile, sophomore Henry Hardart (Annapolis, Md.) posted a time of 4:12.22 to win his heat and is ranked No. 18 nationally, while first-year Pablo Arroyo (Richardson, Texas) crossed in a time of 4:20.51.
 
- The Engineers had four runners in the 800, led by first-year Pau Ilerbaig-Bajona (Toronto, Canada) as he finished 30th in 1:53.58 and is No. 17 in the country. First-year Reece Shuttleworth (Arlington, Va.) was next in 41st at 1:55.33, followed by first-year Ziyad Hassan (Ashburn, Va.) in 47th (1:56.06) and senior Matt Schofield (Shorewood, Ill.) in 52nd (1:56.86).
 
HOW IT HAPPENED AT TUFTS:
 
- Senior Nathan Basinger (Dalton, Ohio) took first place in the shot put with a throw of 49 feet, 2.25 inches while finishing second in the weight throw at 55 feet, 1.5 inches. First-year Sam Engebretson (Sioux Falls, S.D.) finished third in both events, throwing 47 feet, 3.5 inches in the shot and 45 feet, eight inches in the weight throw. Junior Henry Sobieszczyk (Newton, Mass.) took 16th place in the shot put with a distance of 37 feet, six inches.
 
- In the pole vault, senior Max Hardy (Houston, Texas) took the event with a clearance of 15 feet, one inch and is now tied for 19th in the country. First-year Luka Srsic (Worthington, Ohio) was second at 14 feet, 7.25 inches and was followed by junior Ben Urquhart (Lansing, Mich.) in fifth at 13 feet, 1.5 inches.
 
- Junior Jeremiah Budiman (Plano, Texas) made his season debut in the long jump and captured the event with a leap of 22 feet, five inches. Sophomore Josiah McMenamy (Yuba City, Calif.) finished 10th with a distance of 17 feet, 11.75. In the high jump, sophomore Spencer Yandrofski (Chapel Hill, N.C.) finished third as he cleared six feet, 2.75 inches and was followed in fourth by Steven Marquez with a height of six feet, 0.75 inches.
 
- Sophomore Garrett Whitmore (Webster City, Iowa) finished second in the 200 with a time 23.55 seconds as he was joined in the event by sophomore Ian Gatlin (Brentwood, Tenn.), who crossed in 24.68 seconds to place 13th. Gatlin also competed in the 400, where he was sixth in a time of 55.47 seconds.
 
- Junior Omozusi Guobadia (Katy, Texas) finished seventh in the 60 meters at 7.41 seconds, while Evan Schaefer was fifth in the 600 with a time of 1:26.27. First-year Samir Amin (Olympia, Wash.) took fourth in the 3,000, running a time of 9:17.28.
 
- Below are the current top-20 rankings for the Engineers, from meets up to this point in the season as listed at www.tfrrs.org.
 
200 Meters
13. Benton Wilson - 22.24
 
400 Meters
15. Benton Wilson - 50.32
 
800 Meters
15. Ryan Wilson - 1:55.05
17. Pau Ilerbaig-Bajona - 1:55.21 @
 
Mile
18. Henry Hardart - 4:15.45 @
 
3,000 Meters
6. Matthew Kearney 8:18.27 @
 
5,000 Meters
7. Matthew Kearney - 14:32.72 * @
9. Andrew Mah - 14:34.82 @
18. Sam Acquaviva - 14:51.91 @
 
60-Meter Hurdles
4. Kenneth Wei - 8.09 *
 
Long Jump
4. Kenneth Wei - 23' 11" *
 
Pole Vault
13. Liam Ackerman - 15 3"
19. Luka Srsic - 15' 1"
19. Max Hardy - 15' 1"
 
Shot Put
12. William Woltmann - 51'
20. Nathan Basinger - 49' 9"

* Denotes School Record
@ Denotes time converted from a banked track to flat track
 
UP NEXT:
 
- MIT returns to action next weekend on February 4-5 at the NEICAAA Championship at the Reggie Lewis Center.
 
STAY CONNECTED:
 
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